Sprint and Nextel Communications could announce a $35 billion merger this week in a deal that would forge a third goliath in the quickly consolidating wireless industry. The union would complete Sprint's transformation from perennial also-ran in the troubled long-distance business.

Sprint (FON) and Nextel Communications (NXTL) could be close to a merger deal, media reports said Thursday. Sprint is the nation's third largest cellular company in terms of subscribers as well as a major provider of local and long-distance telephone service for homes and businesses.

A new strain of spam soon could have consumers spitting mad. "Spit" spam over Internet telephony is beginning to surface as more people make phone calls over the Internet instead of regular phone lines, security experts say.

Imagine the marketing possibilities if characters in TV commercials could become real people. That happened Tuesday when "integrated marketing"sprang to life during Fox's World Series coverage. During the Boston Red Sox-St. Louis Cardinals game, Fox's Chris Myers interviewed Leon, the self-absorbed athlete in Budweiser TV ads.

Google Thursday announced a new test service that allows people to use mobile phones or handheld devices to tap Google's Web search via text messages, or short message service.Called Google SMS, the service is the newly public company's broadest push yet in the mobile market.